So, as you may or may not know, I have several siblings, and one of my sisters and I like to talk on the phone quite often. She lives up in Elora, and so, yeah. Um, and she's not all that well, so we don't get to see each other, but we do talk a lot on the phone, sharing stuff about life, catching up on the rest of the family, um, sharing recipes. Only hers are always super-duper healthy, um, weather complaints, you know, stuff that you talk about with your sister. And I really enjoy our conversations, or at least I would, except her phone reception drives me round the bend.
She insists it's my phone, but I have no problem talking to anybody else except her, so it's gotta be hers. And it'll be fine, but then after a few minutes, without fail, her voice starts cutting in and out. Or she starts sounding like she's underwater. Whichever it may be, it makes it impossible to hear her properly or to understand what she's saying. Most of the time, too, she's completely unaware of it and just keeps on talking, so I'm missing important parts of the conversation while I keep going, "I can't hear you.
Hello, hello, hello, hello. Are you still there?" And it drives me crazy because I know she's just going on completely oblivious. And it's not that she's doing it on purpose, it's that our connection isn't clear. Now last week we discussed how sometimes because of all the noise in our lives, we can miss hearing what God is saying to us. But today we're gonna look at how sometimes it can be more like a wonky phone connection.
We're trying to listen for God, but it feels like we only hear pieces, or things just still seem unclear or something feels interrupted. It's not that God isn't speaking, it's not that we're not trying to listen, it's that there's something interfering with the connection. So last week we started Acts 13 and we learned that the church in Antioch was listening and that they heard when the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart Barnabas and Saul." And now as we continue on in Acts 13, we see that they go. Not because they were given a full plan of action, that it was a list of details as to what they were to do, but because they heard a clear voice. They didn't have a wonky connection.
So I'm gonna pick it up in Acts 13 at verse 4, and I'm going to read through verse 12. The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia, sailed there to Cyprus. When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper. They travelled through the whole island until they came to Paphos.
There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer—for that was what his name means—opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right. You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery.
Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun. Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed.
For he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. So the first thing that pops out here, besides the fact that everybody seems to have more than one name, the thing that pops out is the fact that the Holy Spirit didn't stop with asking the church to set aside Barnabas and Saul for the work that he had called them to. He also sends them. The two of them sent on their way by the Holy Spirit. So it's not like they came up with the idea and decided to just go with it.
This was a call with a purpose. This was direction. And what do they do? They go down to the coast, they get on a boat, they sail to Cyprus. Might sound a little exotic to us being here, but really it wasn't anything very exciting.
There was nothing dramatic about it. But they went. That's obedience. And we think— tend to think that if God is calling us, it's gonna be something big and something dramatic, but most of the time he's just asking us to take the next step. And if we're honest, we don't want just the next step, we want the whole plan, because a detailed plan feels a lot more comfortable than a step that requires trust.
And we may wonder, how can we be sure it is God's voice unless it comes with that kind of clarity? So Paul and Barnabas have been sent by the Holy Spirit, but remember, they weren't given a detailed itinerary. But God gave them a direction. He gave them a calling. But he didn't give them every detail.
So when they arrive in Cyprus, they don't wait for a dramatic moment to tell them what to do next. They simply step into what they already know. Luke tells us that when they arrived, they proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They don't arrive and immediately have a dramatic encounter. They don't step off the boat and find this crowd of fans waiting for them.
They do what is normal for them. They preach. They teach. They proclaim the word of God. And Luke tells us that this happened in the synagogues, z. Plural.
Meaning it wasn't just one conversation, this wasn't just one opportunity. They went from place to place faithfully announcing the message about Jesus. Because the synagogue wasn't just a place of worship, it was also a place where people gathered to hear scripture taught and discussed. And Paul and Barnabas come with the message that those scriptures point to Jesus. And then Luke says, 'When they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos...' That little phrase is kind of easy to miss.
They didn't just pass through Cyprus. They travelled across the island from one end to the other. That's nearly 90 miles. They kept moving, they kept preaching, they kept showing up. Before there was any kind of a breakthrough, there was faithfulness.
They did the work, they did the prep. Without having any clear idea of what they were moving towards, they did what they knew was foundational. They set the scene, they planted the seeds, they prepared the way for whatever it was that would come next. And then after all of that, they arrive in Paphos, the capital of the island, the centre of Roman rule in Cyprus, the place where decisions were made.
Paphos is where we're introduced to a man named Sergius Paulus. Not just some random guy, he's the proconsul, the Roman governor over the entire region, a man of authority, a man of influence, a man who would have been educated, connected, and surrounded by voices competing for his attention. And yet Luke tells us that Sergius wanted to hear the word of God. Which means that before Sergius Paulus was ready to hear, before either Paul or Barnabas had ever spoken to him, God had already been preparing him to listen. Their obedience in following their call didn't start the work, it stepped into what God was already doing.
And that's often how breakthroughs happen, not all at once, but built on a foundation of unseen faithfulness.— and this is where many of us struggle. Because when we're trying so hard to follow God, to follow his directions, his plans, we want some kind of immediate confirmation or affirmation. We take a step and we ask, "Did that matter? Did it work? Am I on the right track?
Did anything actually happen?" We want results, we want evidence, we want to know our obedience is making a difference. But sometimes God calls us to stay faithful before the line ever becomes clear. It's like being on a phone call where someone is giving you directions, but the signal keeps breaking up. You catch part of it, but not all of it. So you move forward with what you heard, and you wonder, "Was that right?
Did I hear that correctly? Am I going the right way?" Not because the direction wasn't given, but because the connection isn't clear. Interference gets in the way of us knowing for certain that we are heading in the right direction. And as you keep going, there's another layer of uncertainty that creeps in, not just, "Am I following correctly?" but, "Is this actually making any difference?" But in that moment, our role isn't to control the outcome. It's simply to stay on the line and keep listening intently, which is what Paul and Barnabas were doing.
They didn't have constant confirmation. They didn't know what was happening on the other end. They didn't know when the connection would actually come through. They just stayed faithful to the voice that they had heard. So don't underestimate simple faithfulness.
Don't assume your obedience isn't making a difference just because you can't hear a response yet. The conversations that you have, the prayers that you pray, the invitations that you extend, the moments where you simply show up even when it feels unclear, even when there's interference, those aren't dropped calls. God is still on the line, and he's still working on the other end. And you never know when the signal will break through, when what you've been faithfully doing finally connects, when what you've been trusting God with makes sense. So stay tuned to the signal, because the connection may be closer than you think.
And when the connection isn't clear, When we're not sure if we're hearing right or seeing results, it raises a deeper question: How do we know if we're on the right track? How do we even know if we're doing what God wants?
Because we need to be careful about how we define success. Because there's tension here. On one side, we can fall into thinking, "If we can't measure it, it doesn't matter." So we only celebrate the things that are visible, the decisions that are made, budgets growing, numbers increasing. But then on the other side, we can drift into the opposite extreme where maybe we shouldn't measure anything at all because the things that matter most, like changed hearts, quiet obedience, spiritual hunger, they don't always show up right away. And sometimes we avoid measuring because we don't want to reduce what God is doing to something shallow.
Or we're not sure what to look for. But that's not quite right either. Because while we can't control the results, we can pay attention to the signs of faithfulness and movement. In other words, the issue isn't measuring, it's making sure we're evaluating the right things. Success in God's kingdom isn't about instant outcomes, but it also isn't invisible.
It looks like faithfulness before it looks like fruit. It looks like turning to God in prayer as a first course of action, showing up when you'd really rather not, following a nudge from the Spirit, having the hard conversations even when they don't go as well as you want, and continuing to pray even when nothing seems to change. That's success. And over time, there are signs, real ones, that God is at work. We become more focused on mission and less on disagreements.
Our conversations go deeper than they used to, we become more open to change and see it as positive when there is a reason behind it, and we start asking the right questions, and we see doors begin to open. Those things matter. They may not be flashy, they may not be instant, but they are evidence that God is moving beneath the surface. Because in Acts 13, success wasn't just that someone believed, it was that The Spirit was followed, the truth was spoken, the interference was confronted, and the way was made clear. That's success.
So we need to stay faithful because every small act of obedience is part of something bigger than we can see and more significant than we can measure. And as we continue on in our prayer discernment journey where we're trying to make space to hear God speak to us, to hear where he is calling us in the next steps into our mission and vision, even as we wait for a plan, we keep on being faithful, doing as Paul and Barnabas did. We keep moving to serve people. We keep preaching, we keep praying, and we keep showing up. Because even in a world where connections can come and go, there are people who are trying to tune in.
So we stay faithful to the signal. Trusting that God is already preparing people, places, and opportunities on the other end. And here's the thing about a signal. Just like when I'm having conversations on the phone with my sister, it never seems to fail that it's when she's saying something important, that is when interference disrupts the call. I'm left hanging wondering what it was that she was gonna tell me because her voice cuts in and out or starts sounding like she's gone deep sea diving with her phone.
And that's exactly what happens next with Sergius Paulus and the message of the gospel. Interference comes in the shape of a man named Elymas. In him, we find a competing voice causing a distorted signal. Bar-Jesus literally means "son of the Saviour," but Elymas is a title that identifies him for what he actually is. A magician, one who practises deception.
He was likely part of the inner circle of Sergius Paulus, offering guidance through magic, divination, and spiritual counsel, and when Paul and Barnabas began sharing the gospel, Elymas openly opposed them, not just disagreeing privately, but actively trying to turn the proconsul away from the faith and distort the truth. Sergius Paulus wants to hear the message, But Elymas wants to stop it, not with force, but by getting in the way. The enemy isn't always loud chaos. Sometimes it's just subtle interference. Elymas didn't attack with violence.
He used confusion, distortion, and distraction. And those same tactics haven't disappeared today. Just like Elymas tried to interfere with Sergius Paulus hearing the truth, we shouldn't be surprised that there is interference going on in the world today.
Elemis just wasn't a random opponent. He was someone with influence, someone people trusted, someone who shaped how others understood spiritual things. But beneath that, underneath the influence, was distortion and pride and a desire to protect his own position. And in the same way, people in our culture are seeking. There are people who are curious, who are trying to tune in.
And they often encounter competing voices. Many of these seekers are not looking primarily for arguments or even answers. They're looking for community, for belonging, for a place where they can be known and accepted even as they wrestle with what they believe. But the enemy whispers, "You're not good enough. You don't belong.
You won't be accepted." And culture reinforces it by saying, "If you don't agree with me, you're against me." So instead of space to explore truth, people feel pressure to choose sides or stay silent. And just like with Elymas, the goal of that interference is the same: to keep people from clearly hearing and responding to the truth of the gospel. But what happens next reminds us that while interference is real, it's never final, because the Spirit can clear the way. When Elymas tries to block the moment, Paul doesn't panic or push harder in his own strength. Instead, It says he is filled with the Holy Spirit, and from that place he sees clearly and speaks directly, exposing Elymas for who he truly is, calling him out not in anger but with Spirit-given clarity.
You are full of deceit. You are opposing what is right. You are twisting the truth. That was specific, it was timely, and it was necessary. And in that moment when the interference tried to shut everything down, the Spirit broke through.
Elymas is struck with temporary blindness, not as a random act but as a purposeful one. The obstacle is removed, the one who was distorting the truth is silenced, and even though Elymas himself does not repent, the path, the path is cleared. Now Sergius Paulus can see and hear clearly, and hearing the message and witnessing the power of God, he believes, because that's what the Spirit does when we stay tuned into God, even in the presence of interference, he makes a way through. Sometimes God doesn't just speak, he removes what is keeping people from hearing. He gives clarity when we need it, he gives courage when it matters, and he gives words in the moment.
And what feels like obstruction can become the very place where God's truth shines most clearly. Interference is real, and sometimes it's even intentional. But it is never ultimate, because the Spirit of God is stronger and clearer and always able to break through. So even though darkness falls on Bar Jesus in judgement, that's not where the storey ends, because at the very same moment light breaks through. Sergius Paulus, the Roman official, the outsider with no Jewish background, no religious framework, no reason on paper to respond, believes.
Not casually, not just intellectually. The word Luke uses means he entrusts himself completely to the Lord. So what changed? He saw what had happened, the interference was exposed, but more than that, he was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Not just the miracle, but the message.
And that's the point. Interference may try to block the way, voices may try to distort the truth, culture may confuse what is right, but when the Spirit moves, truth becomes clear, darkness is exposed, and what God is doing becomes into focus. And this isn't just a moment from the past. The Spirit still moves like this, still cuts through interference, still makes clear what once felt uncertain. And that matters for us because we're trying to listen.
We're trying to discern where God is leading us next, and we shouldn't be surprised if there is interference. There will be noise. There will be competing voices. There will be moments when the signal feels unclear, but that doesn't mean that God isn't speaking. It may mean that, just like in Paphos, something significant is happening and the resistance is real because the moment matters.
So our role isn't to fit— force clarity, is to stay attentive, to keep listening, to keep moving in faith with what God has already made clear, trusting that the Spirit is already at work, not just in us but ahead of us, preparing the way, removing interference, making things ready in ways that we cannot yet see. Because just like in Paphos, there was more happening than Paul and Barnabas could see in the moment. And the same will be true for us. So we stay faithful, we stay attentive, we stay tuned in to his voice. And we trust that when the time comes, what now feels unclear will become unmistakably clear.
Let's pray.
God, we come to you aware that sometimes it is hard to hear clearly, not because you're silent, but because there is so much noise and interference around us. So we ask, quiet the noise, get rid of the interference, help us to recognise your voice above every other voice. Give us patience when clarity doesn't come quickly. Give us faith to keep moving with what you've already shown us, and give us unity as a church that we would listen well together and follow where you are leading. Remind us, God, that you are already at work.
You're at work around us, ahead of us, and within us. And when the time is right, God, make the path clear because we trust you, we love you, and we want to follow you. In Jesus' name, amen.
